In 2010, the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association named him "News Writer of the Year" for his work at The Sammamish Review, a community weekly east of Seattle. J.B. is a graduate of Pomona College and has a master's in public policy from Johns Hopkins University.

Sharing economy companies like Uber and Lyft claim that the people who work for them are “independent contractors,” thus ineligible for most employee benefits. That argument may prove difficult to sustain.

Unlike similar initiatives that only build housing for low-income people, Philadelphia's will also target people who make too much to qualify for public housing but too little to afford private housing.

It was one of the first cities to join a nationwide movement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in 2005. The city's director of energy and sustainability looks back at what's changed in the past decade.

Having a digital warehouse to hold foster kids' health and education records eases their many transitions from one home to another and makes it easier to apply for jobs and college. But few places have them.

At least four in 10 American cities have cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to a survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. An April report details the extent to which a 2005 environmental campaign has spread to cities across the country.

Some states and cities want to to use "ban the box" legislation to stop employers from screening job applicants with criminal records. Here's why some businesses oppose such measures and how some lawmakers eased their concerns.

A new report details state legislation that impacted the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. While much of the report strikes a hopeful note, it also anticipates more political battles ahead.

Under Obamacare now, undocumented immigrants and children who are legally present under Obama’s Deferred Action program are ineligible for Medicare, non-emergency Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

As states work to comply with new federal welfare rules that restrict recipients from withdrawing cash benefits from liquor stores, reports released by Maine's Department of Health and Human Services show some doing just that.

Legislators in Montgomery and Prince George's counties teamed up with the District of Columbia to raise the region's minimum wage. To do so required some compromise and trust in one another. This is how it happened.

A new bill would make D.C. join the handful of municipalities that give legal permanent residents who are not U.S. citizens the right to vote in local elections. So far, more than a quarter of the Council supports the measure.

A report on the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., digs into the shooter's history of mental illness. Nothing suggests the state's new guards against arming the mentally ill would have stopped the incident.

It's unusual for a city to create its own tax credit, but New York has launched a pilot project that supplements the federal Earned Income Tax Credit to help lift low-income, single adult workers with no children out of poverty.

Facing smaller staffs and budgets, nearly every state or local agency serving the poor has struggled to do so in a timely manner. A new approach in Connecticut is getting social services to people cheaper and faster.

In the hopes of helping immigrants and the unbanked, the city was the nation's first to offer cards that act as an ID and a prepaid debit card. For a product targeted at low-income people, though, critics charge the cards are too expensive.

At least three states already allow and more are considering allowing localities to charge citizens for what can be dangerous and expensive rescues that occur when recklessness (like kayaking during a flood) is involved.

State officials found dogs to be helpful therapeutic aids for counseling the surviving children of the mass school shooting. A new law may make Connecticut the first state with a formal animal-assisted therapy program for trauma victims.

A month after a Supreme Court ruling freed jurisdictions from having to get federal approval to change their election laws, Attorney General Eric Holder announced a lawsuit to require Texas to do just that -- and "it will not be our last," he said.

A first-of-its-kind audit shows that about 190,000 firearms were reported to police as lost or missing in 2012. The data may inform current debates about whether people should have to report missing guns.

A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court blocks proof-of-citizenship requirements on federal voter registration forms, but leaves open the possibility of amending the form to include Arizona's stricter standard for verifying citizenship.

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is suing the city of Nelson, Ga., over its new ordinance requiring residents to own firearms. The lawsuit's outcome could impact other places with gun mandates.

Several high-profile government officials were killed this year. Standing in the public light has always had its risks, but they’re higher than ever as tracking an official’s whereabouts can be as simple as following their Twitter feed.

Most state lawmakers supplement their legislative job with one in the private sector. To reduce the conflicts of interest that inevitably arise from this, states are considering revising their ethics laws.

The administration has asked Congress to fund better record keeping for background checks and scientific research related to gun violence. For full coverage of the president's proposed budget, click here.

Most of Fayette County’s elected leaders are Tea Partiers, shedding light on how Tea Party reformers -- if given full control -- might shape public policy and overhaul Republican politics at the local level.

When state lawmakers consider granting in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants, they tend to focus on strict university-related spending and tuition revenues. A new study finds that government and society would see a net economic benefit.

Oregon may become the next state to grant in-state tuition to young illegal immigrants. We review the arguments for and against state tuition equity laws, which 13 states currently have and at least a dozen are considering.

A new survey to be published in The New England Journal of Medicine finds that most gun owners and non-gun owners support criminal-history background checks for all gun sales. Proposed bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines were less popular among gun owners.

Some state leaders aren’t waiting for Congress to address last year’s mass shootings in Newtown, Conn. and Aurora, Colo. So far five governors have alluded to gun violence in their annual state-of-the-state addresses.

As part of a re-examination of Maryland state laws on firearms and the mentally ill, a task force has recommended that the state should require mental health professionals to contact police if an individual seems dangerous. The policy, if it becomes law, could lead to new gun seizures.